Praising Marina Pepper: ‘domestic extremist’
Meet Marina Pepper. If you haven’t heard of her already, the vociferous campaigner has been closely associated with a host of anti-capitalist and pro-environment protests, including Vestas and Climate Camp.
Ms Pepper is one of the key characters in an upcoming film ‘Just Do It’ by the excellent producer-director Emily James.
Just Do It tracks three loose environmental groups: Climate Camp, Climate Rush and Plane Stupid, from early 2009 when she began filming their clandestine activities. That is when she came across Marina Pepper (this clip is delightful). There’s more clips here.
According to her Wikipedia page, Marina Pepper is an English liberal democrat local politician, journalist, children’s book author and former model and actress. She served in 2006 as Chair of the Lewes district council, where she represented the coastal communities of East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs, just five miles east Brighton.
Since then she has quickly gained notoriety as a campaigner.
Just Do It is being made independently and is relying on donations to finish and distribute it.
Starting on 12th October, this Tuesday, the soap company Lush have agreed to match pound-for-pound, any donation to the film project through their site.
If you’re passionate about saving the environment, get involved.
More at: just-do-it.org.uk / Twitter / Facebook
Why Alan Johnson was the right choice for shadow Chancellor
This is what I said when backing David Miliband for leader:
When he is elected leader, Ed Miliband will come under the most terrific pressure from the opposition, media and Blairites over his supposedly radical and left-wing policies. If David were elected leader, the main pressure which he would face would be to win over and enthuse the people who supported his brother or Ed Balls. To unite the Labour Party, Ed Miliband would need to appeal to the Right, David to the Left.
8th October 2010: Leftie supporters of Ed Miliband get v v cross when he appoints Alan Johnson as Shadow Chancellor.
continue reading… »
The Libdems are in danger of letting down students badly
contribution by Aaron Porter
Lord Browne’s so-called independent review of higher education funding is due to report early next week and all the signs point to the coalition attempting to raise the cap on tuition fees.
The last government let students down by introducing top-up fees and no issue brought Tony Blair closer to defeat in parliament.
It is hardly surprising that a review comprised of business people, vice chancellors and university employees is set to propose a huge increase in the level of student fees to fill a black hole in university funding.
continue reading… »
Letter: Student leaders warn against more debt
A letter released exclusively to Liberal Conspiracy from a broad range of leading student representatives – including several NUS Officers and executive members – says the debate over the future of higher education funding should not focus solely on how to make students pay more.
It comes ahead of next week’s Browne Education Funding Review recommendations.
The letter
A government review into university funding will soon make its recommendations.
So far the debate has been totally one sided – focusing almost exclusively on how to make people pay even more for receiving a university education. Some in the Coalition government favour making people pay more through a graduate tax whilst others back higher fees of up to £7,000 per year.
With student debt already averaging £23,000, the idea that the cost of a university degree should increase further is absurd.
There are progressive alternatives to funding higher education which would tackle student debt and help Britain create the highly skilled economy it needs – rather than slipping further down international league tables of university participation as it currently is.
To this end, we welcome the UCU’s contribution to the debate, proposing that tuition fees be replaced by an increase in corporation tax.
We demand that the Coalition government uses the review to reduce the burden on students – not as an opportunity to increase these costs.”
Signed
Kanja Sesay, NUS Black Students’ Officer
Vicki Baars, NUS LGBT Officer
Fiona Edwards, Free Education Campaign
Joshi Sachdeo, NUS National Executive Council (NEC)
Rebecca Sawbrigde, Disabled Students’ Rep, NUS NEC
Sean Rillo Raczka, NUS NEC
Neelam Rose, NUS Black Students’ Committee
Cameron Tait, President of the University of Sussex SU
Helen Wakeford, President of University of Glamorgan Union
Kristy Wallace, President of University of Exeter SU, Cornwall Campus
Rosie Tressler, Women’s Officer, Nottingham University
Greg Brown, Environment & Ethics Officer of University College London Union
Aaron Kiely, NUS Black Students’ Committee
Beth Evans, NUS LGBT Campaign
Laura Ions, Communications Officer of Swansea Metropolitan University
Muhammad Sadi, Vice-President, London Metropolitan University Students’ Union
Dan Morgan, Campaigns Officer for Swansea Metropolitan University
Claire Flanagan, Vice President of University of Ulster Student Union
Jonathan Holmes, Liberation Officer, University of Lincoln Students’ Union
Sam Middlewood, Vice President of Brunel University Students Union
Andy McGowan, Funding Officer of Cambridge University Students’ Union
Mensur Burhan, Vice President Welfare and Students’ Rights, London South Bank University Student Union
Emma Wilson, Vice President Education & Welfare of University of Plymouth Students’ Union
Sol Schonfield, Communications Officer of the University of Sussex SU
Elaine Griffiths, Welfare Officer of Coleg Morgannwg
Rosanna Robinson, NUS Black Students’ Campaign, Further Education Representative
Zoe Scandrett, Women’s Officer of Kent University Union
Liam Walker, Student Life Officer of University of Cumbria SU
Oli Luton, Healthcare Integration Officer of Cardiff Students Union
Ed-Mili makes more shadow appointments
Lobby journalists are reporting on Twitter that Ed Miliband has been making more Labour shadow cabinet appointments today.
According to NotW politics team head David Wooding, Diane Abbott has been made shadow public health minister. Also confirmed by health journalist Sally Gainsbury.
Update: Diane Abbott will be (shadow) junior Public Health Minister.
The Sunday Telegraph’s Patrick Hennessy says shadow ministerial roles for Chuka Umanna, Rachel Reeves and Michael Dugher are also being mooted.
Sunday Mirror’s Vincent Moss says Kevan Jones and Michael Dugher to be shadow defence ministers
Update 7:10pm: Mirror’s Kevin Maguire says up to 6 of the new 2010 intake may be given positions.
This post will be updated as more developments roll in.
Pickles in ‘completely false’ claims about AC
Conservative minister Eric Pickles was yesterday accused of “kicking the corpse” of the Audit Commission with “completely false” claims about excessive spending.
Its former communications director David Walker told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that Communities Secretary Eric Pickles had scrapped the quango in a “rush to have a headline”, reports 24 Dash.
And he said junior local government minister Bob Neill had been “naive” to make claims of disproportionate spending on events at Newmarket racecourse and on press officers.
“Either [junior local government minister Bob] Neill knew or he didn’t know – and if he didn’t know, he should have known – that these charges were completely false,” Mr Walker said.
On the first point, Mr Walker said the commission regularly needed to hold meetings with staff and clients, and Newmarket offered “value for money” on non-race days.
On the point about the AC having 48 press officers, Mr Walker once again accused Pickles of making things up.
The Audit Commission isn’t that big – we in fact, at the time he said that, had two press officers. He’s obviously got some kind of brief from his teenage special adviser.
Mr Walker also poured scorn on the idea that cutting the AC would save money.
The irony of this is that we were, just before the abolition announcement, proposing to the Communities (and Local Government) Department efficiency savings over two years totalling some £50 million.
Eric Pickles comes along and says ‘I’m going to abolish them and save £50 million’. It turns out, when you look at our redundancy obligations and pensions and so on, the cost of abolition could end up to a hugely greater sum.
The commission, which employs around 2,000 staff, audits £180 billion spent by 11,000 bodies in local government each year.
via @MissEllieMae
Join us and get organised: your planet needs you
contribution by Hanna Thomas
I first heard about Climate Rush in January 2009. I was despairing about the ability and intention of our world’s governments to do anything about climate change.
With the spectre of the Third Runway and Kingsnorth looming then, what a welcome invitation it was to attend a (very civilized) sit-in at Heathrow and show our dissent with tea, cake, blankets and Edwardian garb!
Almost three years have passed, the world has changed yet internationally climate change negotiations are still stuck. It’s the penultimate day of yet another UN climate change conference, and still nothing is expected to change.
continue reading… »
Smear-merchant goes for Sadiq Khan
I commented yesterday on how smear-merchant Guido Fawkes, aka P. Staines, has been trying to smear Sadiq Khan as an “extremist” merely because he had the temerity to say the UK should have an “independent foreign policy”.
This habit of trying to smear any Muslim as an extremist just because they don’t follow the right-wing agenda is old hat.
Now Staines is trying it again.
Did you know that Khan has been exposed three times for fiddling his expenses
That would be the time Sadiq Khan sent out a letter where Labour’s rose emblem wasn’t “discreet” enough, and other similar bollocks.
In contrast, the man in charge of the nation’s finances – George Osborne – actually broke rules by claiming for a £450,000 mortgage on his Cheshire farmhouse when it was worth less. Apparently that’s not in the same ballpark and can be conveniently ignored.
Did you know that five members of Khan’s family and various clients belonged to fundamentalist group Hizb ut-Tahrir? Something he called “irrelevant” and “trivial”
That linked article says nothing about Khan’s family – merely about three HuT members who were being tried by the state of Egypt. Khan said the case against them was “trivial” and “irrelevant”. Egypt bans any organisation that challenges the dictatorship there and is known for torturing dissidents. Seems Staines can’t read.
One of those people – Maajid Nawaz – came back to the UK and set up the anti-terrorism think-tank Quilliam Foundation to challenge extremism. Also note that Guido is defending the authoritarian Egyptian regime in trying to smear Sadiq Khan.
Did you know Khan got the bent copper Ali Dizaei off the hook.
Shock-horror: lawyer actually defends someone! Dizaei eventually went to prison for something else, but it’s also true the Met Police made a whole bunch of allegations against him that turned out to be rubbish. That was when Sadiq Khan was, rightly, involved.
Did you know Khan tried to join the defence team of Zacarias Moussaoui
Actually the newspaper report says: “The Labour whip was not allowed to see Moussaoui and was barred from seeing court papers in the run-up to the trial.” – not the same thing.
It’s obvious why the smears are being put out there: Staines hates Sadiq’s politics and wants to see him go down.
This is the same person who was calling for Israel’s IDF soldiers to be sent pizzas while they were invading and killing innocent people in Gaza.
Hague’s farcical attempt to establish ‘supremacy’ over EU law
contribution by Gareth Winchester
William Hague has announced that he will publish a Parliamentary Bill which he claims will ensure that the UK remains sovereign in matters involving EU law – through a “Supremacy Clause”.
Cue the Euro-sceptics: “Hurrah! Soon we’ll be free of the tyrannical Eurocrats!”
There is only one problem with this: in the legal profession Hague’s actions are technically known as a complete load of bollocks.
continue reading… »
Shadow cabinet: why strategy triumphed over necessity
contribution by Seph Brown
Basically it fell like this.
Who are the heavy-hitters Ed has left to work with for the big 3 jobs?
a) Ed Balls: Played an excellent anti-Tory, anti-cuts role in the leadership election. People realised they actually quite liked him.
b) Yvette Cooper: Excellent at DWP, clear grasp of economics, excellent female candidate.
c) Alan Johnson: Big experience, personable, steady hand.
So everyone is a little bit shocked at how it turned out, but it seems to make perfect sense to me.
continue reading… »
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed. You can also get them by email and through our Facebook group.
» Do older people really need more NHS healthcare?
» There are alternatives to the reckless ‘Plan A’
» On Beecroft: it is already quite easy to sack people
» Why Cameron’s claim of 600,000 jobs created is plainly wrong
» By using age to allocate NHS funding, Lansley rewards Tory voters
» The rise in domestic violence deaths is not an “isolated” problem
» Adrian Beecroft highlights mindset of Tory right
» The US is now a model for the Eurozone to save itself
» The IMF plan to revive the economy doesn’t go far enough
» The Boris brand is weaker than his friends think
» Nine things you can do to halt Lansley’s destruction of our NHS
|
45 Comments 92 Comments 23 Comments 50 Comments 10 Comments 26 Comments 22 Comments 69 Comments 44 Comments 25 Comments |
|
LATEST COMMENTS » steveb posted on Do older people really need more NHS healthcare? » So Much For Subtlety posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed' » Paul posted on Criticism of Obama for its own sake: a reply to Mehdi Hasan » Conby posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed' » Jim posted on How Newsnight demonised a single mother » So Much For Subtlety posted on Do older people really need more NHS healthcare? » JC posted on Why Cameron's claim of 600,000 jobs created is plainly wrong » pagar posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed' » So Much For Subtlety posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed' » D.O posted on How Newsnight demonised a single mother » So Much For Subtlety posted on Criticism of Obama for its own sake: a reply to Mehdi Hasan » Briar posted on Do older people really need more NHS healthcare? » Eddy Cool posted on How Newsnight demonised a single mother » Ben2 posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed' » pagar posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed' |
